starting forestry. am i mad.

[mikeyg]

hi. am i mad for wanting to do forestry aswell as tree surgery. i have my own business with 3 of us working pretty much full time. i've been offered to extract 500 ton of spruce douglas and larch off a local estate and would love to get stuck in. i've got a valmet, winch and timber trailer and guys to fell but i cant work out the maths and bothered that theres gonna be a massive price cut on day rate for a long time. i know it all depends on how much the timbers bought and sold at, and how much can be felled a day but roughly how much can be felled and extracted in a day. some advice and examples would be much appreciated. many thanks, mike

[liamjordan]

your certainly not mad! forestry work is lovely work! thats all we do pretty much, its only recently that i am starting to enjoy the climbing side of things, but i would still rather be knocking over some big timber

 

seen as though you have some nice kit, go for it! we work with a lot less than that, as many people on here know our kit is rather old.

 

im sorry i cant really help you on the pricing side of things, thats my cousins and granddads field,

 

but in my opinnion a general figure can not be given about how much can be felled and extracted in day, too many things to take into account, ground conditions, access, speices, size, break downs.... the list goes on

[slack ma girdle]

To selectively fell 260 m3 of unpopular poplar 12 days. Extraction so far on flat but very wet ground 32 m3 in 3 1/2 days using the mighty nuffileld 10/60. Ruts on the access track are now too deep for the afore mentioned tractor and it keeps getting stuck, and now waiting for digger to clear track. i have now sold on part of the timber to someone else with the equipment to extract in the wetter conditions. I will loose out but the estate that owns the wood is happy as they in the long run will get more money. I am not a hi tec outfit, and run the forestry on a very small budget, but i means that i get free firewood to sell on (about 30 m3 a year).

My advice, be flexable, and do not be afraid to get help in as circumstances

change.

[Brushcutter]

Yes:lol: Good fun though hard work but fun.

 

 

There are some very good threads on cutting/extraction rates and costs.

 

500m3 is a lot of wood. what sort of size?

 

Extraction is where you make your money. Making life easier for the forwarder is key. How big is your timber traier and crane. You'll be wanting at least a 10 tonner to keep things efficent.

 

I'll post more coherent and useful answer tomorrow after i've been to sleep.

[mikeyg]

thanks for the advice so far. the timber on the first compartment is douglas fir and mostly below 15 inch and about 150 ton. ive got a botex crane and 10 ton extendable trailer so hope this will speed extraction up. all access is good but there will be winching involved. i know its like how longs a piece of string but roughly how long could it take to fell 150 ton going from past experience. ta

[Brushcutter]

I can fell around 8m3 a day as safe bet. Closer to 12 if things are working. Thats cut and stacked too.

 

So a 150m3 would take me about 19 days. Obvioualsy it depends on how many product sizes your cutting say sawlog fencing and pulp is normal. If there is winching involved is that whole tree skidding? That means you can get stuff on ground quicker, skid and process later.

[Brushcutter]

Is it clear fell, 1st or 2nd thinnings?

 

Is it a double drum winch?

 

A 10 tonne trailer will be pulling out about 8 tonne of logs at a time.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Do it! Forestry rocks, arb sucks

[Joshua]

Get to it, you will not regret it

 

Not a 100% sure of softwood rates as I only seem to be cutting hardwood. Do you know what lengths you need to cut to?

[Sam Thompson]

Do it! Forestry rocks, arb sucks

 

This is correct. Why bother nibbling at 'em when you can knock 'em over